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"While we and the Outer World League occasionally share information, we are not affiliated with them," Enirata states firmly; his large, dark eyes narrow to slits. "Despite understanding that you planned to bomb our colony from orbit, we sent an escorted diplomatic envoy to your vessel - but you disregarded this gesture of peace and immediately attacked us upon arrival! If this entire incident is retaliation for believing we are part of OWL, your actions are gravely misguided! We will grant you a fair trial before the Hsilkorian Rebirth's High Council, but you must stand down!"

*sputters, cowed*

"Bu- But! You're negotiating with a bunch of people who almost got no information after being pulled out of cryo just today to get here under threat to be thrown out of the closest airlock without a suit!
And who were you talking to anyway?? The acting captain and his second died in orbit already! The boardcomputer was in charge when we left! And while he's an asshole, he's not dumb enough to plan those things!"

Caleb, you better just land at the Nemesis, you need a doctor. You've done your part today already, I think. You can report what we've done so far.

*hesitates for a moment, then continues with acted confidence*

"We get communications back shortly! Then you can talk this through with SCAMPS directly! Which is probably the only real way to get anything done because we're not even a real team here! We're just some random people, pulled out of cryo and sent on a suicide mission! There's people here who won't listen to you nor me, but perhaps to the tin-head!"

Hesitantly reach for the jammed bolt
Decide against removing the bolt in fear of damaging the crossbow (repairing it and reloading would probably take too much time)
Put the crossbow away and grab the looted sword
Pray that it will not be neccessary to use it, even though there's not a single section in the book of the eternal dustbunny about situations even close to this one
Yell beyond the cover to the Hiltorel in the right wing, pleading
"We're trying to work out a solution for this that doesn't involve half of us all dieing here! So stop shooting!"
Feel increasingly guilty about what the minister talks about, even if I didn't know about any of it before
If the squids stop shooting, but are then shot by teammates
-"What the hell are you triggerhappy lunatics doing again!"
-Get very close to the ground because absolutely certain hell will drop
When Caleb enables communication to the Nemesis and if the minister agrees to talk to someone in charge
-Give Cho a short run-down of the talks and ask her to patch SCAMPS through
-Put SCAMPS on speakers
If Hiltorel forces pass my cover
-cower down
-appear non-threatening
If buck gives me the PDA with the fake interface (misreading and interpreting it as real)
-Oggle it, shocked
-"One mega-? Buck! What the hell? Do you want to blow us all to hell??"
If Hiltorel forces or drakehounds attack me
-Lunge at the attacker with a more-or-less sobbed "Why won't you just leave me alone?!?"
-Hit a random one of the buttons on the swords hilt during the first attack
-Attack with a maximum of two slashes with the sword
-try to scramble behind new cover (in darned 0g!)

Last edited by F4wk35 on Fri Jul 13, 2018 7:21 am, edited 1 time in total.

I narrow my eyes at the scientist. It's not like I have much choice but to follow him, unless I want to burn up, so I follow the scientist.Along the way, I search for alternatives and weapons. If I find a weapon I can use, I grab it.

Gene! Move back to the center area behind cover and help me deal with this thing!
We're going to have to make it quick because I think Buck and Frank are in over their heads!
After it's down we're moving back behind them.

"What the bloody hell's up with those two again? We came here to kill squids, not to negotiate peace. Get on with it already!
Sorry, got sidetracked there for a moment. If I need a hand with them squids I'll holler, Brom. Try not to get killed yourself."

Retreat towards the center area and take cover,
then reload the shotgun and machine pistol if they haven't been already.
Try to get the attention of the drakedogs by firing my machine pistol at the nearest one,
then fire one shotgun shell at any further drakes which approach me.
I should fire my shotgun no more than twice.

*To my squad*
"Gene! Move back to the center area behind cover and help me deal with this thing!
We're going to have to make it quick because I think Buck and Frank are in over their heads!
After it's down we're moving back behind them. Frank, in the meantime see if you can figure out what the hell they're talking about!
Buck, that baton of yours has proven extremely effective against those creatures, so I may need you to switch with me after we come to relieve you.
If the creatures make a move though give me a shout and I'll fill them with lead myself!"

Quickly drop my shield and pistol and switch to my shotgun.
As soon as my shotgun is out, take aim an fire at the nearest drake dog.
If he doesn't go down, I will fire a second time and reload.
If I'm still being attacked by the drakes, I will get into cover and wait for them to close the gap between us.
I will fire one shot per drake (Observing the shot limit).

After all attacking drake dogs are down, I will switch to my lasgun and charge to the marked location on my map.
If I see any hostile squids (as in they are interested in attacking us at that moment), I will take aim and fire at the nearest (provided I have not reached my shot limit).

"Someone keep this squid-king or whatever the hell he is on the line, I know a way to slow them squids comin' for us down! Frank, you like talkin' to this guy, so talk to him!"

((I want to try and make this guy think that I'm able to detonate my bomb from my PDA and then get him to tell the fighters in the north to stop. I'll have to cobble together a quick fake detonator on my PDA if I want this to actually seem convincing, however. I hope that quickly making something like this can be done in 1 turn, since it's an extremely barebones and simple-to-program "app". I also hope that this would use my computer/hacking skill, rather than my robotics/aux skill.))

Equip my baton
Charge at the drakedog that's attacking Brom, while trying to minimize my exposure to possible fire from the squids in the east
Bash the drakedog with the baton until:
a) It is dead/incapacitated
b) It retreats
Take cover somewhere safe from the squids, if I'm not already in coverif holosquid is still on the line and I'm not in immediate danger (immediate danger = being in melee combat, not being in proper cover, etc.):
-Cobble together an extremely basic UI that literally only has one big button with "DETONATE" written on it and "1 Megaton charge: Primed" written above it, on my PDA. Also, if I can do it quickly, make it so that pushing the button makes the entire UI disappear and turn into a 30 second countdown (which doesn't actually do anything) and a button with "STOP COUNTDOWN" written, which when clicked returns to the initial "DETONATE" screen (hope that I'm not being confusing, I can clarify if needed)
-Show the holosquid the fake detonator and say "You better tell your evil minions to stand down, or I'm turnin' this shithole o' yours into a pile o' nuclear mud! Them fighters in the air too, tell 'em to turn around and go away!"if at any point I get attacked in melee
-Hit the enemy with the baton (if I still have non-penalized uses left)"

Gene! Move back to the center area behind cover and help me deal with this thing!
We're going to have to make it quick because I think Buck and Frank are in over their heads!
After it's down we're moving back behind them.

"What the bloody hell's up with those two again? We came here to kill squids, not to negotiate peace. Get on with it already!
Sorry, got sidetracked there for a moment. If I need a hand with them squids I'll holler, Brom. Try not to get killed yourself."

Retreat towards the center area and take cover,
then reload the shotgun and machine pistol if they haven't been already.
Try to get the attention of the drakedogs by firing my machine pistol at the nearest one,
then fire one shotgun shell at any further drakes which approach me.
I should fire my shotgun no more than twice.

Brom reels. Right above him: A drakehound.

Everything happens in the span of half a second as time seems to slow.

Without any time for thought, Brom drops his shield and pistol - they float slowly away from him - and he brings his shotgun to bear in one fluid motion, with just barely enough time to aim before the creature is upon him. It moves swiftly, using its sticky feet to leap down to the floor, and then lunge. Brom's shotgun fires a powerful blast directly into the monster's shoulder, ripping a hole clean through it. Already in motion forwards, the monster roars, opening his mouth wide, and closes it around Brom's right elbow. Though he's held up all right so far, he screams in agony as his flesh is rent from his bones, shredded by the drakedog's rows of teeth.

Losing copious amounts of blood, Brom begins to feel faint - partly from bloodloss, but mostly from pain. As the blood rushes from his head, he starts to falter, and attempts one more Gauss shotgun blast at the attacking monster - a difficult proposition, given his elbow is locked in the thing's mouth. As the drakedog begins to grind its teeth, trying to rip and tear Brom's arm out of its socket, Brom fires one last, desperate blast; the poorly-aimed shot only grazes the beast's tail.

Brom falls unconscious - lost, but not alone: Buck charges in with his plasma baton spitting sparks, and Gene throws himself into cover, shooting wildly at the drakedog with his machine pistol. As bullets graze or pierce the beast, it shakes Brom loose, sending him floating across towards Gene as a sprinkling trail of blood drifts along behind him. Then, roaring like the wounded animal it is, it rears and focuses its attention on Buck - who misses his swing and leaps backwards to avoid the clawing left leg. Then, as plasma bolts fly about him, Buck leaps towards the drakedog - just as the beast's chest explodes from a well-placed shotgun round from Gene, who never missed a beat.

The monster sways, stumbling, and emits a frightened cry as it leaps back and slams into some of the computer equipment in the ring, dodging Buck's baton enough that it only leaves a light burn on its flesh.

Its frightened cry is answered by a second drakedog that appears, clawing its way forwards at a rapid clip through the passage to the west wing. It roars and lunges at Buck, while Gene takes aim and fires a second shotgun shot at the one that took out Brom. This one, at practically point blank, puts a hole clean through its ugly skull. Its head flies back limply; the monster loses its grip on the ground and floats lifelessly into the air, slowly tumbling backwards: a clean kill.

Buck dashes into cover, and Gene leads the new monster around the central gravity column. Gene tries to retreat, but isn't sure where to retreat too; it's only by sheer luck that he, too, doesn't get his arm bitten halfway off. As the monster roars, leaping towards him, Gene stops partway through reloading his shotgun and bashes the monster across the face, sending it floating backwards, while Buck dashes back out of cover, his PDA in hand - he's just finished doing something on it. He and Frank are yelling at each other.

((Buck and Frank: Continued in Frank's portion))

Gene hurriedly thrusts himself off the center console with his feet, narrowly dodging another swiping attack from the drakehound. He hears Buck and Frank arguing in the comms. "What the bloody hell's up with those two again? We came here to kill squids, not to negotiate peace. Get on with it already!"

It's at this moment that a much louder, deeper roar echoes through the building - and Gene Weber finally catches sight of what he saw earlier: a monster of a drakedog - possibly a full-grown one - at least two, maybe three times the size of the others. He swallows dryly and, his hands trembling, ducks further into cover as the abomination screeches again, causing Gene's teeth to chatter.

Things really went to hell in a handbasket. Gene feels... rather close to panicking again.

((To be clear, Brom was not doomed. Had he taken the first step to back away from the monster rather than try to attack it directly, or had Gene's first move been to fire, or Buck slung himself at it immediately using his gravity gun as a bashing weapon (essentially playing decoy) - Brom might still be awake. Better rolls could've let Brom survive too. I wrote it as though Brom went down before help arrived, but in actuality (by the layers) you guys arrived slightly before it was too late, but were unable to assist. Brom went down quickly because of the severity of the wound + the pain he was already in + 0 endurance. Blood loss didn't help either. For now, someone else will have to lead. Hopefully you guys can come up with a way to bring him around. I sure am glad you guys brought anti-shock meds!))

((Hema, I doubt you'll be unconscious long (we have a couple people with anti-shock meds in close proximity) but I'll re-edit this post with something dream-like for you, after we have a brief discussion of where you want to go with it - just regular dream or something meaningful, or a surprise, or... etc))

"While we and the Outer World League occasionally share information, we are not affiliated with them," Enirata states firmly; his large, dark eyes narrow to slits. "Despite understanding that you planned to bomb our colony from orbit, we sent an escorted diplomatic envoy to your vessel - but you disregarded this gesture of peace and immediately attacked us upon arrival! If this entire incident is retaliation for believing we are part of OWL, your actions are gravely misguided! We will grant you a fair trial before the Hsilkorian Rebirth's High Council, but you must stand down!"

*sputters, cowed*

"Bu- But! You're negotiating with a bunch of people who almost got no information after being pulled out of cryo just today to get here under threat to be thrown out of the closest airlock without a suit!
And who were you talking to anyway?? The acting captain and his second died in orbit already! The boardcomputer was in charge when we left! And while he's an asshole, he's not dumb enough to plan those things!"

Caleb, you better just land at the Nemesis, you need a doctor. You've done your part today already, I think. You can report what we've done so far.

*hesitates for a moment, then continues with acted confidence*

"We get communications back shortly! Then you can talk this through with SCAMPS directly! Which is probably the only real way to get anything done because we're not even a real team here! We're just some random people, pulled out of cryo and sent on a suicide mission! There's people here who won't listen to you nor me, but perhaps to the tin-head!"

Hesitantly reach for the jammed bolt
Decide against removing the bolt in fear of damaging the crossbow (repairing it and reloading would probably take too much time)
Put the crossbow away and grab the looted sword
Pray that it will not be neccessary to use it, even though there's not a single section in the book of the eternal dustbunny about situations even close to this one
Yell beyond the cover to the Hiltorel in the right wing, pleading
"We're trying to work out a solution for this that doesn't involve half of us all dieing here! So stop shooting!"
Feel increasingly guilty about what the minister talks about, even if I didn't know about any of it before
If the squids stop shooting, but are then shot by teammates
-"What the hell are you triggerhappy lunatics doing again!"
-Get very close to the ground because absolutely certain hell will drop
When Caleb enables communication to the Nemesis and if the minister agrees to talk to someone in charge
-Give Cho a short run-down of the talks and ask her to patch SCAMPS through
-Put SCAMPS on speakers
If Hiltorel forces pass my cover
-cower down
-appear non-threatening
If buck gives me the PDA with the fake interface (misreading and interpreting it as real)
-Oggle it, shocked
-"One mega-? Buck! What the hell? Do you want to blow us all to hell??"
If Hiltorel forces or drakehounds attack me
-Lunge at the attacker with a more-or-less sobbed "Why won't you just leave me alone?!?"
-Hit a random one of the buttons on the swords hilt during the first attack
-Attack with a maximum of two slashes with the sword
-try to scramble behind new cover (in darned 0g!)

Buck shouts at you. "Someone keep this squid-king or whatever the hell he is on the line, I know a way to slow them squids comin' for us down! Frank, you like talkin' to this guy, so talk to him!"

Fearing for your life, your mind races as you try to come up with something to say. "Weren't those league-guys who shot us down your people? And the fighters who immediately started harassing the wreck?? What damn deal?!? All they told us was that you were about to kill us all! We were just pulled out of barely tested cryo-tubes just to have a chance to get away from your onslaught! And before there was talk about some bombs! What. Damn. Bombs?!?"

The face flickers above the console. "While we and the Outer World League occasionally share information, we are not affiliated with them," Enirata states firmly; his large, dark eyes narrow to slits. "Despite understanding that you planned to bomb our colony from orbit, we sent an escorted diplomatic envoy to your vessel - but you disregarded this gesture of peace and immediately attacked us upon arrival! If this entire incident is retaliation for believing we are part of OWL, your actions are gravely misguided! We will grant you a fair trial before the Hsilkorian Rebirth's High Council, but you must stand down!"

You stammer incomprehensively. "Bu- But! You're negotiating with a bunch of people who almost got no information after being pulled out of cryo just today to get here under threat to be thrown out of the closest airlock without a suit!"

Above Enirata's head, the central stellaplex tower cracks open with a hiss; the outer paneling draws back and enters within itself, revealing a massive ovoid structure studded with protruding bundles of cables and tubes. The hacking equipment is clearly doing its job.

Buck has rushed back to the other side of the stellaplex tower to deal with whatever's attacking Brom - it sounds like drakedogs - and plasma bolts keep flying past from the right wing of the complex. Too afraid to poke your head around cover, you lean towards the edge and shout, "We're trying to work out a solution for this that doesn't involve half of us dying here! So stop shooting!" Then, seeing as there's no signs of anyone letting up, you turn back to Enirata. "We get communications back shortly! Then you can talk this through with SCAMPS directly! Which is probably the only real way to get anything done because we're not even a real team here! We're just some random people, pulled out of cryo and sent on a suicide mission! There's people here who won't listen to you nor me, but perhaps to the tin-head!"

He looks aggressive; haughty. "Mammalian cryotechnology is impossible. Do not imperil yourself with lies. We are not negotiating with you right now! This is your final warning to comply. Stand down and you will be treated with civility!"

Just then, Buck floats quickly over and catches himself on a handle sticking out of some of the equipment across from you. He holds up his PDA toward the minister's face: it has a very large, very clear button on it that says "DETONATE", and "1 MEGATON CHARGE: PRIMED" written above it. Buck built a detonator?!?

Frank sputters, flabbergasted in shock and horror. "One mega-? Buck! What the hell? Do you want to blow us all to hell??" Truly, this guy is a madman - or a genius.

"What the bloody hell's up with those two again?" Gene shouts. "We came here to kill squids, not to negotiate peace. Get on with it already!"

There's a moment of panic and a flurry of activity; the minister briefly disappears from view. Shouting in hiltorel is heard, just for a few moments - the sound of arguing. For a moment, the near-constant plasma fire from the right wing stops abruptly, and when it starts back, it seems halting, and a bit more confused.

In this moment of near-silence, the alarms continue to blare, a few squids can be heard to argue. It's at this moment that a much louder, deeper roar echoes through the building. Peering around the central control tower, Frank and buck see the massive, looming shape of a drakedog - but not just any drakedog. It's at least twice the size of the ones they encountered previously. It's positively gigantic. It screams again, and Frank's teeth chatter.

Enirata appears again, looking quite cross. "You plan to destroy us either way, human! We cannot withdraw, but if you plan to turn this confrontation into a massacre, so be it! We will respond in kind."

The video feed clicks off; Enirata's face disappears from view.

((Buck's bluff actually worked, to a degree. I'm impressed with that idea of yours by the way, Hapchazzard That was good thinking. The squids are currently confused with conflicting orders and will fire at 1/3 normal capacity until halfway through the next turn. The fighters in the air have slowed somewhat as well, and have nearly stopped.))

I narrow my eyes at the scientist. It's not like I have much choice but to follow him, unless I want to burn up, so I follow the scientist.Along the way, I search for alternatives and weapons. If I find a weapon I can use, I grab it.

You narrow your eyes at the scientist. You'd rather not, but it's not like you have much choice. It gives you a bit of time to reflect on things. It also gives you a chance to look for weapons. You soon come across one, sitting in a handy slot on the wall - a high-powered laser pistol, state of the art. You saw guards using these, back at home. It feels nice in your hands.

The scientist stops short, horrified. "Don't shoot at me!" He floats backwards down the corridor.

"Why shouldn't I?" you ask. It wasn't your intention to shoot him in the first place, but his horror pleases some dark part of you. "Easier for one of us to escape than both."

"But we could both escape," the scientist argues pleadingly. "Isn't that better than just one?"

You glare. "I hate you emotionless, labcoated freaks. You take and you kill without any sympathy. I am what I am because of people like you!"

"Are you not unsympathetic and emotionless yourself?"

It's a valid question, which makes you angry. Anger is an emotion, right? That's something a scientist arguably couldn't feel, then. But unsympathetic? Well... that remains to be seen. Your fingers close around the trigger, when suddenly the side of the station gets ripped away, flinging both you and the scientist out into the air above a green-tinted terran planet.

All is silent as you fall toward the world below.

You wonder about yourself, and what you are... and what you've become.

You wonder about who you want to be.

...Why is it so dark?

~~~

You come to, quickly, with the sensation of someone slapping you across the face. As it turns out, someone is slapping you across the face. Blinking, you stare at him dumbfounded for a moment You feel somewhat disassociated, but the balding man in front of you snaps your helmet back over your head. "I'm Mekkin," he introduces himself. His voice is quiet, but he sounds like he's talking loudly. Did something damage your hearing?

You look at your arm. Still in pretty nasty shape. And... it's floating. Are you weightless? What happened to the gravity?

Though you have so many questions, Mekkin doesn't give you a chance to ask any of them. He looks at you sternly, keenly. "You'll be all right," he says again, loudly. He speaks quickly, as though hopped up on caffeine, though his expression doesn't look like it. "I gave you my last dose of screech. When we get back to the ship, you owe me a thousand creds for that." ((new cred system - 1 cred now = 1000 creds after this mission ends.)) He gives you a very stern, warning look - that of a scientist, you feel. You know that mentality. Cold and calculating. Frowning, you give him a glare and try to get up. "I also gave you a dose of painkillers and anti-shock meds, but I won't hold that against you. Now, pay attention! We need to move before the squids come back this way."

"Right," you say, trying to get to your feet - a difficult task in zero-G. A strange sensation is winding its way throughout your body. Your muscles feel tensed, like you're ready to leap at something and claw its eyes out. "What's going on?"

"Don't shout," Mekkin scolds. ...Were you shouting? It's hard to tell. "Your friends killed gravity in the colony. How? I don't know, but things have become... quite messy." He brings out a lasgun and starts rifling through the pouches at his waist. "The drug I gave you will constrict your blood vessels enough to let you function again - for now. We have a very limited amount of time to get you back to the Nemesis before you pass out, but until then you should find yourself considerably faster. I suggest we get to work. We'll need to mop up the squids in the area if we plan to continue." He pulls out a stim of some sort and slams it into one of his medports. "Ahhhh," he breathes, as he widens his eyes, blinking. "Exquisite." Then he tosses the syringe aside - it floats away and bounces off a rock while he checks out his lasgun. "You ready?"

((Screech gives you +2 to speed, +1 to agility, and +1 to intuition. This means your speed is currently at +2, agility at +2, and int at +1. This means you're better than usual at dodging, and your "do X fast" speed rolls will have a 67% base chance to succeed, with a 0% base chance to critically fail. Screech also dulls your hearing (normal talking may seem like a whisper, anything quieter isn't noticeable) and makes you talk louder. You can roleplay those.))

((To be clear, I talked this over with Narwhalz prior to the turn, and he's okay with it. I think it gives some nice roleplay opportunities, and lets him be awake for the last portion of the mission.))

Fly towards G8 and keep a decent amount of space between me and the ground.
Sing "itsy bitsy spider" loudly in the intercom while travelling.

Once Arrived, fly high enough to be able to look above the mountains.
Take a shot at an enemy fighter using my laser when he comes in range.

If anything hostile comes closer than three squares, shoot at it with my particle gun, pray to jimmy that it hits and then retreat 2 squares towards the nemisis.

You begin flying northwards toward the colony, flying boldly over the ridges. The squids are probably distracted with other things by now, but that's not really what you're thinking about. You're more just ... well, too busy concentrating on your song to think about that.

"The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout," you sing. Loudly. Over the comms. "Down came the rain and washed the spider out,"

"Oh, hey!" someone laughs. It sounds like that "Crank" guy. "You're singin' my jam now! Yaha, I know that song! Paps used to sing that to me when I was a babe!"

You seem to have made a new friend. For the rest of your flight, you and Crank sing Itsy Bitsy Spider together over the comms, thoroughly annoying anyone and everyone that doesn't have the good sense to mute you.

~~~

When you arrive, you float high above the canyons - high enough to see over the next ride. You don't see anyone around at all. It's pretty peaceful up here, actually. Saoirse-boss and Gearhead are headed over a ride to the east of you, toward the colony. You watch as they descend into the valley.

"Saoirse, esteemed warrior, have you heard it? Our help is needed. I shall escort Caleb to the Nemesis, and deliver our prisoner...somebody has to do it, right? I shall re-join you in the fight later."

Board my CASKET.
Take off and fly towards the CASKET that holds the prisoner.
Use my PSI Unit to help me positioning my ship exactly on top of the CASKET with the prisoner.
Gently pick the CASKET up using my magnetic clamps; use PSI unit to help the process, IF it is needed.
Use the tentacle to help the process, if needed.
Wrap the tentacle around both ships for better structural integrity.

IF CASKET recovery is successful,
Fly towards Nemesis.

IF attacked:
- use PSI unit to help dodging;
- quickly lower my altitude to 1 metre or so
- AND release the CASKET I'm transporting.
THEN continue evading.

"Saoirse, have you heard it?" you radio. "Our help is needed! I shall escort Caleb to the Nemesis, and deliver our prisoner. I shall re-join you in the fight later."

You madly dash around, collecting interesting stuff that you can find from ... everywhere nearby. There are some alien weapons here and there you pick up, and you stow those away in your ship - mostly in your backpack. There are some ration packs and other similar things lying around - you put those in your aux slots. Someone has to bring home the bacon, after all.

When you're confident you've collected everything you could find in short notice, you board your CASKET, take off, and fly towards Caleb's ruined craft to begin what is certainly the riskiest maneuver you've attempted on this mission.

Hovering over Caleb's ship, you lower cautiously towards it, utilizing your PSI unit to help rid your ship of any unintended motion. Soon thereafter, there's a loud CLANK as your ship makes contact with Caleb's. You turn on your magnetic clamps and, reaching downwards with your ship's psi tentacle, you wrap it around the bottom of Caleb's CASKET. There is no sound from Aloka; you assume Caleb's comms were probably damaged when he nose-dived.

The CASKET recovery is successful. You turn and begin flying towards the Nemesis, hoping to catch up with Caleb.

~~~

It isn't too long before you do. Together, you fly back towards the Nemesis. You're basically within comms range now.

I spare a moment to marvel at the utter, complete insanity of Alpha, and, to my surprise, to thank the FSM that my legs are too fukced-up for me to head up there- it sounds like a deathtrap. I feel a pang of shame for this thought, but I know it can't be helped- I'd only be a liability there, anyway. My best bet is to get the hell back to the Nemesis and hang out with that squid we captured- Aloka, was the name?

I wait for Ismael to catch up with me before continuing on with him cautiously, taking care to stay in the valleys to hide from any stray enemies. If I reach the Nemesis, I comm them to let them know of my situation and attempt to use the hull as cover.

You spare a moment to marvel in shock and awe at Alpha's utter, complete insanity. It sounds like a deathtrap. For another time on this mission, you're forced to not help your allies... but you feel a little more at peace with it than you would've been before. You know it was only a dream, but it was a strangely powerful one - perhaps brought about by these intense experiences you're having now, or perhaps a side effect of having probably had one too many coagulant boosters. Whatever the case, you don't feel as guilty as you might - though the guilt is certainly nevertheless there.

Your best bet is to get back to the Nemesis. It's not finishing the mission, but it's getting there... and what was that squid's name? Aloka? Something like that.

You wait for Ishmael.

~~~

You keep waiting for Ishmael.

~~~

And you wait some more.

~~~

Overall, you've only waited a few minutes before Ishmael finally shows up. Your old, ruined CASKET is clamped beneath his ship. Aloka's probably terrified. Possibly angry, too. You could see her being outraged about this.

Together, you begin to fly back toward the Nemesis. You're probably within comms range now.

"The Hiltorel have pet dragons?? Why don't we have those? I want a pet dragon!
...
Right. Er, yes, we're coming. But... looking at the map, those fighters are gonna reach you before we can, we're over 10 km away still."

outlander wrote:
stuff

"Allright, Ishmael, but hurry." (( i.e. don't loot everything first ))
"Bob, Gearhead, time to leave please. Caleb, you better just land at the Nemesis, you need a doctor. You've done your part today already, I think. You can report what we've done so far."

First, I wait for Gearhead to catch up. Then, I fly on towards the colony.
While flying, I sing the old classic 'Rocky road to Huhoba', forgetting to turn of my comms, of course.
"...One, two, three, four, five
Hunt the squid and turn her down the rocky road and all the way to Huhoba, whack-fol-la-de-da!"
If I spot enemies, I shoot bubbles at them once (preferring a weak spot) and then try to get into cover if there is any.
If no enemies are spotted when we reach the grav plant ((unlikely)), I land my ship, and keep it running with a slight downward thrust (so I can't go floating away), and survey the surroundings.

"Hurry, Ishmael!" you radio, upon hearing his intentions to pick up Aloka and bring her back. "Don't loot everything first."

You find out later that he did indeed loot everything first.

"Bob, Gearhead," you continue, "Time to leave, please."

"Sure thing, Sugartits," he responds. You grimace. "I'll have your... back. I'll try to keep any Hillies off you, so you can get proper shots with that bubble blower of yours."

You wait for Gearhead to catch up.

~~~

Gearhead soon catches up with you. You turn and fly together toward the colony at max thrust, leaving the nacelle forever behind you. You annoy him immensely along the way. He deserves it, after all.

"...One, two, three, four, five
Hunt the squid and turn her down the rocky road and all the way to Huhoba, whack-fol-la-de-da!"

~~~

There is no gravity. That's clear almost immediately. You have to turn off most of your ship thrusters. Except for the air drag, you float smoothly alongside your squadmate. Most of the colony is untouched, save for the gravplant, where you soon find a number of CASKETs - seven, in fact, and one of them is an advanced model parked across the street.

For a moment, you ponder landing... but then realize that some enemies are fast approaching you from the north. They're out of range of your bubble blower, though - for now, at least. You'll need to consider your options carefully.

but at the total cost of Bob, who actually does splat on the ground (and seriously messes up his left hand and wrist to the point he can't use the hand at all. Thanks Ishmael! May the FSM bless you with his spaghetti tentacles!).

"Hey noodle priest! I have no idea what you are trying to do there, but that boy's fingers arent noodles. They arent supposed to flop around in all directions at once! We only have one of him, dont break him please!"

"Sure thing Sugartits, i'll have your.... back. I'll try to keep any Hillies off you that you can get proper shots with that bubble blower of yours"

stuff some interesting loose bits of the cannon into my repairkit and put the repairkit into its mount on my shipget the rest of my equipment stored away in my ship as wellRun a quick systems check on my ship's systems, because im sure something broke while i wasnt watching it. Like Caleb. Every. DAMN. Time.Lift off and form up with Cheeks-of-Steel ((Saoirse, before you do anything stupid >.> Tal <.< ))Shoot on any Hilly flyer that lines up to shoot at Saoirse, threatens any other friendly or is weakened by Saoirse's bubbles. In that order of priority, until im out of shooy juice.

Quickly, you shove whatever you can into your repairkit (a shoddy solution, but it works) and mount the repair kit. Then, grabbing the rest of your gear, you climb into the cockpit and lift off in a hurry, running a quick systems check as you take off. It comes up clear, and you throttle towards Saoirse. The whole rushed affair takes you less than thirty seconds.

~~~

You soon catch up with Cheeks-of-Steel, and the two of you turn and fly together toward Huhoba Qitsit at max thrust, leaving the nacelle forever behind you. Saoirse annoys you immensely along the way, singing some kind of trash folk song.

"...One, two, three, four, five
Hunt the squid and turn her down the rocky road and all the way to Huhoba, whack-fol-la-de-da!"

What the hell did you do to deserve this shit?

~~~

It isn't long before you arrive. There's no gravity - that's clear almost immediately. You have to turn off most of your ship thrusters. Except for the air drag, you float smoothly alongside your squadmate. Most of the colony is untouched, save for the gravplant, where you soon find a number of CASKETs - seven, in fact, and one of them is an advanced model parked across the street.

For a moment, you ponder landing... but then realize that some enemies are fast approaching you from the north. They're out of range of Saoirse's bubble blower, though - for now, at least. You'll need to consider your options carefully.

"Oh! Saoirse, you're still alive! I was starting to wonder, but that's good news!" It's definitely Cho. "You guys are on your way back now, right? We're almost out of time! Reyha called her squad in already. ...Wait, you are Saoirse, right? I still haven't gotten a chance to really meet any of you. We'll have to do that after you land!"

"Yes, I'm Saoirse, Irish accent and all that. Er, sure, that would be nice!"because it would mean I'm not dead!"Yes, Beta is done, we cleared the nacelle of enemies and attached all hooks, so it's ready for pickup, no further casualties.
Caleb is rather hurt though, so he and Ishmael are heading to the Nemesis, and they're bringing a prisoner. Oh, and Caleb is flying a stolen ship, so don't shoot at him please.
Gearhead, Bob and I are heading over north to help out Alpha because it sounds like they're in trouble. I'm not entirely sure how close they are to getting the stellaplex."

"Um... Well, you see..." she laughs nervously, "SCAMPS told the gunners to shoot my team if they came back without the stellaplex. So, I guess that would mean you." After a short pause, she apologizes, "I'm really sorry if that's an inconvenience! I tried to talk him out of it, but, well... you know SCAMPS..." She laughs, like she's making small talk.

"...we didn't have to retrieve the [redacted] stellaplex! We're squad beta!
Caleb broke both his legs, he can't [redacted] walk! Does he really think having him hover a km away from the Nemesis is gonna help the mission? I thought he was smarter than that!
Besides, he asked us to retrieve the bloody prisoner in the first place, now he doesn't want to allow her to land?"

"No, don't get mad at me! I'm trying to help, okay? I'm just the messenger. But no, I really am sorry - I really did try to bargain - but SCAMPS didn't listen. He said he told you that the whole mission needed to be complete before anyone could come home. He said something about..." She pauses. "'Testing your abilities' or something? I don't know - I'd ask him again, but he's already kinda annoyed with me..."

She pauses, a bit longer. Then, hesitantly, she adds, "On a different note... well... I don't suppose any of you managed to find some samples of the local cuisine?" She sounds hopeful.

*deep breath*"Sorry Cho, I'm really not mad at you, I'm mad at SCAMPS. It's a great motivation to know our glorious leader is an idiot who prefers to actively tries to make the mission even harder.
Because Ishmael is carrying a CASKET under his that contains our prisoner and he can't come help us here until he can drop her off, which he can't if you're gonna shoot at him.
But sure, if SCAMPS thinks testing our abilities is more important than actually getting the job done, great."

"Oh, right! You mentioned a prisoner! I'm sorry, I'm such an airhead today! Maybe it's because I missed breakfast?" Cho laughs. "Okay, give me just a minute. Let me see if I can work something out. - Reyha? Hey, Reyha?" There's silence for a couple dozen seconds, and then you hear her again. "Okay, Ishmael? If you can hear me: you can set the prisoner down somewhere in the valley with the Nemesis, as long as the prisoner is properly bound. I talked to Reyha and she's going to send Kendall out to pick it up. Will that be okay?"

((The airhead thing is intentional, by the way, but I do greatly enjoy doing it. I was going to have her message back in a bit with "OH RIGHT YOU SAID YOU HAD A PRISONER" if you didn't say anything. Cho is a nice change of pace for me from SCAMPS' abrasiveness.))

"I wouldn't use the term "okay", but it's better than nothing. Thanks.
Kendall should be prepared to be able to pick up an entire casket though, we put the prisoner in Caleb's damaged casket, but his guns aren't broken so we probably shouldn't leave it behind."